Most television viewers now receive their television signals through a content aggregator such as a cable or satellite television provider. For subscribers to a direct broadcast satellite (DBS) service, for example, television programming is received via a broadcast that is sent via a satellite to an antenna that is generally located on the exterior of a home or other structure. Other customers receive television programming through conventional television broadcasts, or through cable, wireless or other media. Programming is typically received at a receiver such as a “set top box” (STB) or other receiver that demodulates the received signals and converts the demodulated content into a format that can be presented to the viewer on a television or other display. In addition to receiving and demodulating television programming, many television receivers are able to provide additional features. Examples of features available in many modern television receivers include electronic program guides (EPGs), digital or other personal video recorders, “place-shifting” features for streaming received content over a network or other medium, providing customer service information and/or the like.
It is often the case that two separate users—each having their own unique preference in television programming—will be simultaneously viewing content on a television display. In such contexts, one user might, for example, prefer to view the nightly news, while the other might prefer to watch a sit-com or other such content. While conventional picture-in-picture (PIP) and split-screen systems allow two shows to be watched simultaneously, the size of the resulting windows are such that the PIP display (or the split screen display) results in a smaller portion of the display used for the main programming and/or portions of one program display being occluded by the other. Accordingly, conventional prior art PIP displays are an unsatisfactory way for two users to simultaneously watch content from multiple programming sources.
It is therefore desirable to create systems and methods for improving the viewer experience by allocating most of the display to one programming source, and a small portion of the display to a portion of another programming source—such as a news ticker, scroll, score box, or the like. These and other desirable features and characteristics will become apparent from the subsequent detailed description and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and this background section.